From Oranges to Mangoes: Miami’s Most Famous New Year’s Parades

12/04/25

For generations, Miami has welcomed the New Year with parades that showcase the city’s creativity, humor, and community spirit. The Orange Bowl Parade, which began in 1939, was organized by the Orange Bowl Committee to promote tourism and community through the annual football game and associated festivities. Earnie Seiler, Miami’s recreation director in the 1920s and a former high school football coach at Miami High School, played a key role in creating the parade. Known as the “Mad Genius” for his flair for showmanship, bold ideas, and unconventional promotional methods, Seiler helped turn the event into a dazzling spectacle of floats, marching bands, and national celebrities. For more than 60 years, the Orange Bowl Parade brought excitement to Biscayne Boulevard on New Year’s Eve and was broadcast across the country, highlighting Miami’s cultural diversity and holiday spirit. Although the parade ended in 2002 due to rising costs and logistical challenges, it remains an enduring part of Miami’s cultural history and a nostalgic memory for many residents. Historic moments, including photographs from 1941 and 1982, are preserved in the Library’s Digital Collections.

In Coconut Grove, a different kind of celebration emerged in 1982 with the creation of the King Mango Strut Parade, founded by Glenn Terry and Bill Dobson as a playful spoof of the Orange Bowl Parade. The Strut began when Terry, Dobson, and their friends were denied entry into a more formal parade while performing as the “Mango Marching Band,” using unconventional instruments like kazoos, conch shells, and garbage‑can drums. Their response was to create their own irreverent, satirical parade, which quickly grew into a beloved community event. The King Mango Strut highlights humor, creativity, and free-spirited expression. Unlike the Orange Bowl Parade, the Strut continues every year, drawing crowds who enjoy homemade floats, clever costumes, and humorous takes on current events. Participation is open to anyone, reflecting Coconut Grove’s long artistic tradition and love of playful expression. Posters announcing the parade are preserved in the Library’s Digital Collections.

Additionally, the Library’s 16mm film collection includes several recordings of the Orange Bowl festivities — both parades and games — from various years. All of these films were created by Fred Frink, a former football player and coach who later founded Ball Movie Productions. He documented the Orange Bowl for 29 years, preserving a visual history of the iconic tradition.

The Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archive holds a much larger collection of his work and has digitized a significant portion of Frink’s films. Below are links to the Orange Bowl recordings that we also have in the Library’s collection, along with a clip from the King Mango Strut parade.

• Orange Bowl 1976
• Orange Bowl 1977
• Orange Bowl 1978
• Orange Bowl 1982
• King Mango Strut 2006

Together, the Orange Bowl Parade and the King Mango Strut illustrate some of the ways Miami communities have celebrated, laughed, and created traditions that continue to shape the city’s story.